Tag Archives: Koran

Do you ever get the feeling that no matter what is done in Afghanistan it will not be enough to please all the people involved in the drama of this nation? A crowd of about 2,000 people protested in the streets in Helmand province over alleged desecration of the Koran by NATO forces. The crowd fought with security forces resulting in shots being fired and take your pick as to whether one was killed as claimed by NATO headquarters or six civilians died according to province sources. The assault on the Koran supposedly took place in October during a military operation. Even as protestors shouted their anger, drones were busy killing insurgents, or at least people who NATO and American sources claim are insurgents.

It is quite apparent that drones will increasingly be used and we can increasingly expect crowds to protest since the law of averages makes certain that innocent people will die in drone attacks. This mess will not be dealt with until Afghan troops are the main groups fighting. Only then will such incidents cease to occur. Afghan is lose/lose.

A group of twelve women in the Sudan were sitting in a cafe enjoying a pleasant evening when the door burst open and they were confronted by the public order police whose job in life is to enforce Sharia law. The women were accused of the heinous crime of wearing trousers in public and ten were immediately flogged by the brave men who make certain trousers are only worn by those of the male sex. The ten women who were flogged were given summary trials, beaten and forced to pay a $150 fine. But, Lubna Hussein, a journalist, decided to challenge the law. “I didn’t do anything wrong” and she decided to speak out for the thousands of girls who have been flogged for years because they wore trousers in public.

I am certain some cleric will point to a sentence in the Koran in order to support the right to beat the hell out of women who wear trousers. Why is it when the issue is violation of a sentence in the Koran clerics are quick to enforce the idea. For some reason, these clerics are not interested in the enforcement of passages in the Koran which call for mercy and love. Perhaps, if we had a public security force to enforce love and gentleness, the Sudan would be a safer and more prosperous place.

I wonder, is there anything in the Koran which says men can not wear dresses?

The Duch government is awaiting possible violent protests this week after a provocative anti-Muslim film by a radic al right-wing politician is shown. Geert Wilders intends to show a Koran being torn up and desecrated. He has ensured followers the film will be shown on TV and the Internet regardless of what the government does to attempt suppressing his material. A group, “Stop Islamisation of Europe” is planning to travel to Amsterdam in order to show support for the politician who is now under guard due to fears opponents will make attempts on his life. Wilders announced last fall his desire to make a film depicting fascist elements of the Muslim faith.

Many of those who disagree with Wilders believe he has been able to thrive in the absence of intelligent dialogue regarding issues raised concerning Muslim immigration. Ahmad Badr al-Din Hassoun, the Grant Mufti of Syria, said if Wilders was seen to tear up or burn a Koran, “this will simply mean he is inciting wars and bloodshed.” I disagree with the cleric. The act of tearing up any book, holy or not, is an individual one, and it is not a criminal action. Muslims are entitled to respect and dignity, they are an integral part of the Netherlands community, but they cannot dictate behavior of each person in the nation. Nor, can the government of the Netherlands. At some point, those Muslims who become upset at the Wilders of this world must come to the realization they thrive when you trnasform into martyrs. The most effective anti-Wilders action is to ignore his behavior. He can not thrive in the silence of anonymity.

Liberal Egyptian Koranic scholar, Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, said he was pressured by Indonesia’s Religious Affairs Ministry to cancel a scheduled appearance at an Islamic seminar in East Java. He believes the government was urged by the Indonesian Ulema Council to forbid his talk on grounds that Abu Zayd was preaching doctrines they disliked. Abu Zayd now lives in exile in the Netherlands after the Egyptian government persecuted him because he regards the Koran as a religious, mythical and literary work. He is will known among Indonesian Islamic thinkers for his views on Islamic theology and is regarded as a liberal who holds ideas not necessarily shared by the majority of religious figures.

Abu Zayd was also forced to cancel other scheduled talks in Indonesia when the Ulema Religious Council apparently did not want someone with religious views contrary to their own to speak in public. The Council noted in a press release, “In Indonesia, blasphemers of the Koran at state Islamic universities nearly always refer to Abu Zayd.” They are upset because he does not regard the Koran as a divine document, but more as a cultural product. One can only wonder if the Ulema Council is convinced they are right concerning the Koran why they do not wish to engage in open public debate with a figure who is supposedly so openly incorrect. Surely, the truth will prevail.

The writer, Taslima Nasrin, has been fighting for women rights in Bangladesh and India for years, but last week there were violent protests by mobs that drove her to flee from the city of Koikata. She noted that “India is my home and I would like to keep living in this country until I die, but the All India Minorities Forum, a Muslim group, demanded she be deported. At the center of hatred against her is the charge that she allegedly told an Indian newspaper years ago there was need for alterations in the Koran in order to provide women with more rights. A court also accused her of “deliberately and maliciously: hurting the feelings of Muslims because her novel, “Laija”(Shame) focused on riots between Muslims and Hindus.

Nasrin has denied making comments about changing the Koran, but she has refused to back down on her fight for women rights. “Women are oppressed in the East, in the West, in the South, in the North. Women are oppressed inside, outside home. Whether a woman is a believer or a non-believer, she is oppressed. Beautiful or ugly, oppressed. Crippled or not, rich or poor, literate or illiterate, oppressed. Covered or naked, she is oppressed. Dumb or not, cowardly or courageous, she is always oppressed.”

Any religion which attacks individuals for expressing opinions about religious documents violates the religious and secular rights of the person. Neither mobs nor religious leaders can decide what a human being thinks or feels. Ms. Nasrin has every right to comment about the Koran, the Bible or any other religious piece of writing, she is talking, not taking action against another human. If people don’t like what she says, they can refute her comments in the press or write books attacking her, but violence has no place for those who believe in the Koran or the Bible.